Bruce slaps £8m price tag on Heskey

STEVE BRUCE has moved to deter interest from Liverpool and Aston Villa in Wigan striker Emile Heskey by insisting he will not be sold for less than £8m when the transfer window reopens next month.

Rafael Benitez and Martin O’Neill are both keen on Heskey after he abandoned new contract negotiations with the Lancashire club. The England international is a free agent at the end of the season and is within his rights to talk to other clubs in January.

Bruce is resigned to losing Heskey in the summer but is determined not to lose him mid-way through the Premier League campaign. The Latics manager knows to his cost the dangers of selling key players in January, having been in charge of Birmingham when the club decided to cash in on defender Matthew Upson in 2007 and were subsequently relegated.

Liverpool and Villa both hope that a £2m bid could tempt Wigan to sell in January, rather than lose him for nothing six months later, but Bruce appears ready to call their bluff.

“It’s Emile’s prerogative whether to stay or go,” said Bruce. “He’s made it obvious that he’d like to keep his options open and we understand that. But I’ve heard figures like £2m or £3m bandied around and he won’t go for that amount.

“If an £8m or £10m bid comes in, then I might have a decision to make, because at least then I would have money to spend. But I really can’t see it happening in January.

“I certainly don’t want it going down to transfer deadline day. I remember Birmingham selling Matt Upson on the last day of the transfer window a couple of years ago and I can guarantee that won’t be happening again.”

Heskey, for his part, remains sanguine.

“The chairman [Dave Whelan] came to me in July and said he had interest, and if I wanted to leave he would respect that,” he said. “But I haven’t said anything more to him and he hasn’t said anything to me, so it is the same situation. I can’t see it being unsettling: I’m a Wigan player and I’m trying my hardest here.”